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Gameplay
The core gameplay of Profit Motive involves overcoming Turn-Base Battle, Chase/Escape Navigation, and Business Development challenges in order to complete “Business Objectives” and progress the story. Completing all the story related Business Objectives allows players to win the game. However, the true outcome of the game is determined by how well players grow and develop their business over the course of the story. Turn-Based Battles Every battle has a central goal players must accomplish to win. Their progress towards that goal is represented on screen in the form a “Goal Bar”. The player’s objective in battle is to use Attack, Tactics, and other Special battle commands to “push” the Goal Bar over to the opponent’s side. However, because opponents have their own agenda, they will fiercely fight back against players and push the Goal Bar in the opposite direction when it is their turn to attack. There are a limited number of rounds in a battle and whoever gets the Goal Bar over to the opponent’s side at the end of the battle will ultimately win the fight. Chase / Escape Navigation At many points in the story and during side-missions, players will have to actively control their character and navigate the environment at high speed in order to chase down or escape from other characters. The goal of Chase sections is to make contact with a specific character in the world before they reach a pre-defined point on the map. The goal of Escape sections is for players themselves to reach a pre-determined point on the map before being caught by another character. Business Development Players have to manage and grow their business and ensure they reach their specified Profit Targets throughout the game. The player’s progress toward their Profit Target is represented on screen in the form of the “''Profit Meter''”. The Profit Meter The Profit Meter is a constantly shifting, vertical meter that shows players how close they are to reaching their shareholder’s Profit Targets. Here’s a mechanical breakdown of the Profit Meter and how it works: *''Profit Target'' is the number players need to reach (represented by the Red Line and Star). *The player’s current Profit is how much they have earned so far (represented by the Green Bar). This can be more or less than the profit target, but never less than zero and never higher than the “Profit Cap”. *The ''Profit Cap''is the absolute maximum cap that the Profit Meter can ever go to (represented by a full meter) When players increase profitability (a reward for completing Business Objectives) then their Profit goes up. Players can also lose profitability in various ways, causing the number to go down. The player’s Profit Target and Cap can also rise, respectively. When the player’s Profit is greater than or equal to the Profit Target, the Meter will change states to let the player know (e.g. The meter turns Gold). *A little known fact is that if players hit the Profit Cap (which means that the meter is maxed out) players will gain a one-time bonus of $10,000. Failing to Meet Expectations If players complete all story Business Objectives, but fail to reach their Profit Target, then their business enters a vulnerable state. Depending on how players perform during that vulnerable time there could be dire consequences for their business (e.g. Key Staff members have to leave, they start the next phase of the game with lower Capital and PP, or their progress is blocked until they fix the core problems with the business, etc.) The Metagame and Secondary Gameplay Aside from the core gameplay, there are lots of other optional Side Missions and Business Development related activities that players can pursue. Side Missions Side missions are optional quests players can choose to take on. They are usually centered on helping another residents or businesses in the area and are always marked with a “Blue Star” on the world map. Side missions can range from simple collection gameplay to sprawling ,epic adventures featuring a wide variety of challenges. Item Gifting Players can give all Basic NPCs and some Event NPCs certain items as “gifts” or “promotional handouts” in the name of their business. Item gifting allows players to interact with NPCs to affect various outcomes. How It Works # Players find, are gifted, or buy a giftable item and approach a Basic or Event NPC. # The NPC will give their usual line of dialogue and then a choice menu comes up asking the player if they would like to gift the NPC an Item. # The players gift the item and depending on the NPC, the player’s personality, and other factors, the NPC will give the player a certain reaction and / or reward. # Players can only gift one item to an NPC (unless the NPC refuses at which point they can try again later with a different item or under different circumstances / conditions). Giftable Items Items players can give to NPCs currently include: * Sandwich – A company sponsored, deli-style, wrapped sandwich. If accepted by the NPC they will give the player a reward in return (low-to-medium value reward) * Energy Drink – A company sponsored, organic energy drink. If accepted by the NPC they will give the player a reward in return(low value reward) *Blue Shop Flyer – A business flyer for the player’s store. If the NPC accepts the flyer, it raises the player’s “Brand Awareness”. If players gain enough Brand Awareness, they earn profit points as a reward automatically overtime without having to win battles or trade stocks. *Lotto Ticket – A company sponsored, scratch and win lotto ticket. If accepted by the NPC they scratch it and win whatever amount the lotto ticket has. There are 3 possible outcomes to doing this: # The NPC wins the maximum prize and gives some reaction and reward to the player(High-value reward). # The NPC wins a bit of money and gives some reaction and reward to the player(Mid-to-high value reward). # The NPC wins nothing and gives some reaction, with no reward for the player, but players can try to gift something again in this case(No reward). Stock Trading There is a business contact that players can find in the game, who will unlock a “Stock Trading” game. This allows players to buy and sell stock at a price that is always changing based on time, the market conditions, and their own actions in the game world. How Stock Trading Works Players go to the Stock and Awe shop and speak to a Stock Broker. There they enter a store interface and can choose to buy one of four stocks: *Company A’s Stocks – Cheap and Safe Stocks *Company B’s Stocks- Expensive and Risky Stocks *Company C’s Stocks- Expensive, but Safe *Company D’s Stocks- Cheap, but Risky Each stock has a “Base Price”, which is the price that each stock currently costs to buy. This value will change overtime and can be higher or lower, so players want to buy a stock when the price is low and sell it when it is high. Players can track the current price of all stocks buy buying a Stock Newsletter or a “Stock Watch”, which will beep whenever prices have changed so that they know to go and check up on it. News and Events Once players have bought a stock, certain NPCs in the world will have news and information related to the company that owns the stock. This news can be good, bad, or average and helps player predict the movement of the stock’s price. Category:Guide